The RE-45 is one of the oldest weapons in Apex Legends, hailing from Titanfall, but it's never been so different. In the next season, Respawn Entertainment is reintroducing it as an energy pistol with a three-round burst, marking the game's first Elite weapon.
While Elite may seem like the name of a new skin tier, it's a new gameplay experiment by Respawn, explained in lore by being part of Ballistic's collection. "The goal of Elite weapons is to revitalize our weapon roster by reimagining what a weapon could do," lead battle royale designer Eric Canavese said at a press event before the new season.
Once Showdown releases on Aug. 5, the RE-45 Elite will replace the base version across the whole game, essentially vaulting the regular version. The same principle applies to future Elite weapons, with their more recent iteration taking over the basic slot. The Elite variant isn't necessarily permanent, however, and Respawn can always bring back the classic version if it fits its goals for the game.
Though the new RE-45 is the first Elite weapon, Respawn is keeping it "intentionally open-ended" as an experiment. There's no set expiration date for the new RE-45 or a release date for another Elite weapon yet, according to Canavese, though you can expect the overhauled pistol to stick around for at least a season.
"We're gonna take our cues from the community and see how it's fitting in the meta," Canavese said, "and we'll let, you know, stale metas and how we wanna be pushing playstyles and engagement ranges sort of help us understand when is the right time for an Elite weapon to come in and out."
Elite weapons present a creative opportunity for Respawn to flirt with the "what ifs" of a weapon, revitalizing old, lesser-used guns to fill a different gameplay space. Changing ammo type and firing mode, for instance, can change how the RE-45 makes it the first energy sidearm—even if it's not fully a new weapon.
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